modding101a

Welcome to Modding 101, my psuedo-tutorial on modifying Deus Ex. I am going to modify Shifter 1.8.1 to ShiftBeyondDX 1.8.1.1 (the update to ShifterPlus 1.7.2.2) and log my work here, so that others can follow it. Following this log, you will learn how to basically mod Deus Ex or any DeusEx.u mod (such as Shifter or Smoke's mod).

The first thing you will need is Deus Ex, of course. You'll want to have the latest version, so head on over to Essential Files using the link to your left. Download the latest patch and download the SDK. The SDK is not needed to play the game, but rather, to unpack the files we will be editing, and to recompile the DeusEx.u file.

I have previously referred to the files we will be editing as the source code to Deus Ex. This is true and it's also false. We won't have access to the Unreal Engine, for example, but we will have access to source code. It's just not THE source code, but rather a series of code pages which compile into DeusEx.u.

Install Deus Ex like you normally would. It's fine if you're playing on Steam, but the GameTap version cannot be altered this way. Next install the update (again, both of these files can be found at the Essential Files link). Then, install the mod you're going to be working with. If you're just going to work with the default, or "Vanilla" files, don't worry about installing a mod.

Installing the SDK offers some confusing options. Click Setup, Next, then I Agree. Your DX folder should come up; usually C:\DeusEx if you have a retail/GOTY copy of the game. The path will probably be much longer if you're on Steam. Find the path and put it in here. Next you will be given a series of choices. You can get by unchecking everything but the first one - read the descriptions, and if you don't need it, uncheck it. Note that even if you deselect everything, it will still try to install ConEdit, the conversation editor. If you don't need it, just click Exit Setup and confirm, and it will abort installation (of just ConEdit). The actual SDK will still be installed.

Now open your DeusEx directory. Take a good long look because you're about to blow it all to Hell. It looks so neat and organized now, no? Well, not for long. Go into the System folder. You now have a few new items, notably UnrealEd and UCC. Let's open UnrealEd.

...What's that you say? Some OCX warning? If it's missing any of four files, it'll tell you, and UnrealEd won't run. Some people have these files and some don't. Well, you can get them all ocx.zip. Open this with your favorite archive program (I recommend 7-Zip) and extract them to your Windows\System directory. If you don't trust me (and I've given you no reason to at this point) extract them instead to a temporary folder and scan them for virii - I recommend AVG Free Edition. It's kept me clean for a few years now. Once you've verified they're safe, drop them in the Windows\System folder. Then, you should be able to open UnrealEd...

As you can see (click the image to make it larger) you have all these confusing options. See at the top, where it says Browse: Classes? Classes will actually say Textures when you start UnrealEd. So select Classes. Now below that list... select Export All. Hit Yes to confirm. It will appear to do nothing. Close UnrealEd - we're done with it - and browse back to your DeusEx installation directory.

WHOA! Where'd all those directories come from? Eek! But there's only one you have to worry about: DeusEx\Classes. I mean, C:\DeusEx\DeusEx\Classes. Not a typo. The DeusEx within the DeusEx. But yeah - see all those files? That's what we edit to change the game. Some names you will recognize. Others will seem foreign to you. These are the names of every object, person, mission, item, weapon, ammo type, and so many more things, that you will encounter in the game.

In Modding 101 B we'll look at ammo. At this point, all I know how to do with ammo is raise the caps (how much JC can carry) so it'll probably be short.